First pitch: Maxwell sits due to concussion symptoms

One night after he suffered the third concussion and second in six years, Astros outfielder Justin Maxwell was out of the lineup and completely unavailable Wednesday. Although he arrived at Minute Maid Park with what he termed a “light headache,” he was optimistic about being ready to play again Friday.

“It’s a little bit sore here on my (left) brow where I took the brunt of the fall,” said Maxwell, who was expected to be reevaluated by team physicians before Wednesday night’s game. “Other than that I feel OK.”

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager Bo Porter vowed to follow the concussion guidelines MLB and the union established in 2011. Under that protocol, baseball mandated baseline testing to determine when a player is ready to return. Baseball also added a seven-day disabled list stint for concussions, which the Astros actually used last year after Fernando Martinez suffered a concussion.

“When you’re talking about any injury involving the head we have to be extremely cautious,” Luhnow said. “The initial reports were very positive, so we’re not overly concerned. It was just a matter of giving him a couple of days off and seeing how he feels. But it’s really going to be up to him to tell us. We’ll make sure that he sees all the right doctors so we can make all the right decisions.”

With the bases loaded in the fourth and the Astros down 3-0 on Tuesday night, Maxwell attempted to make a diving catch on St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter’s three-run triple in the right-center field gap.

“I play the game hard. That’s just the way I play the game,” he said. “I was just trying to help out the team. That was a big spot. Loaded bases, one out, we were only down three runs. I figured if I could try to make that play I could keep us in the ballgame.”

Maxwell was adamant that his latest concussion wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous two.

“This is very mild compared to the previous two,” he said. “The one in college I got knocked out cold. In spring training 2007 I got hit by a pitch and I had cobwebs for a couple of days. This one was just mild haziness and a headache.”